Athlete replacing Simone Biles is Arizona gymnast Jade Carey, 21, who did her first cartwheel at the age of four

• e-mail

The athlete who will replace USA gymnastics captain and Olympic champion Simone Biles at the individual all-round competition final is 5 feet 1 inch and has a vault  named after her.

Jade Carey, 21, from Phoenix, Arizona, pulled out of a place on the Oregon State University team four years ago to concentrate on representing her country at the Tokyo Olympics.

The four-time world championship medalist did not initially qualify for the four-discipline event, after finishing behind team-mates Biles and Sunisa Lee. Only two athletes per country proceed to the all-round finals.

Jade Carey was chosen to replace Simone Biles in the women's individual all-round competition. She competed in the women's vault qualifications on July 25

Carey is a  four-time world championship medalist who fell in love with gymnastics when she was four years old

Simone Biles has dropped out of the women's individual all-around to recover her mental health

Carey, right, completed floor exercises with the rest of Team USA on July 25. She is with, from the left, Grace McCallum, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Simone Biles and Mykayla Skinner

Biles can been seen blowing a kiss and cheering on her male colleagues yesterday during the men's all-around final

But now Carey has a chance to shine in front of the world, particularly in the vault, her favorite event, in which one skill, ‘the tucked Kasamatus full’, was renamed ‘the Carey’, after her, in the Junior Olympic code book.

Biles, who won four gold medals at the Rio 2016 Games, including the individual all-around title, announced early Wednesday morning that she has chosen not to defend her title, after consulting with USA Gymnastics officials following her sudden withdrawal from the team competition Tuesday.

The decision to withdraw from the team final - following a very uncharacteristic error on her first event, the vault - sparked furious controversy online, with critics accusing her of 'abandoning' her three teammates, two of whom were forced to take her place in the three other events at the last minute.

Biles later hinted that the horrific sexual abuse she endured at the hands of pedophile doctor Larry Nassar is behind the mental health issues that prompted her shock withdrawal.

The 24-year-old drew a line between the trauma of Nassar's abuse and her decision to pull out of both the team and individual all-around medal events for the first time when she retweeted a statement of support from a fellow gymnast. 

Former gymnast-turned-fitness trainer Andrea Orris wrote in a statement that Biles was 'molested by her team doctor throughout her entire childhood'.

'We are talking about the same girl who was molested by her team doctor throughout her entire childhood and teenage years,' the statement said. 

'That girl has endured more trauma by the age of 24 than most people will ever go through in a lifetime.'

Although Biles, who was seen for the first time since the announcement when she stepped out to cheer on Team USA's male gymnasts in Tokyo, did not issue her own statement about Nassar or her decision to pull out of the all-around, a US official told DailyMail.com that Orris' message 'sums up everything Simone is feeling and wants to say'.

As she stepped in for Biles, Carey spoke about her love of the floor competition and how she won gold in both events at the 2020 Melbourne World Cup and picked up a medal at World Cup competitions in Doha and Baku.

She must also compete against the best gymnasts in the world on the uneven bars and the balance beam.

The daughter of a gymnastics trainer, Carey took up the sport soon after learning to walk.

Her mom, Danielle, explained: ‘I believe Jade was about four years old [when she first showed an interest in gymnastics].

‘Her dad [Brian] and I were watching TV, and all of a sudden, oop, there goes a cartwheel!

‘We looked at each other, and I said, ''Did you teach her that?”

‘And he said; “No, did you?”

And I said: “No”. And so I think we kind of knew at that point.’

Jade has thanked her dad for introducing her to gymnastics and supporting her on her road to the Olympic Games.

Carey's mother, Danielle, said her husband introduced Carey to the sport when they saw her do a cartwheel at four years old

Carey's father, Brian, introduced her to the world of gymnastics and the Olympic Games

Carey thanked her father for helping her get this far in her Olympic journey

Biles was the favorite to win at the women's individual all-around. She dropped out of the team's competition on Tuesday

In a message to him posted on Instagram last year she wrote: ‘We’ve been through it all together. The ups, the downs, the good, the bad.

‘You’ve shown me now to spread my wings and believe in myself.

‘I can’t wait to finish this journey of ours, we’re almost there.’

Mom Danielle claims to be Carey's number one fan, but she must contend with her other children, Alexis, Taeva and Xandon, for that title.

Jade trains with fellow gymnast Riley McCusker, who is also her best friend.

She said: ‘We really push each other to be better and help each other in every way we can.

‘It’s nice to have a training partner that knows exactly what you’re going through.’